


repeated image of the lover destroyed

by laireshi



Category: Iron Man (Comic), Marvel 616
Genre: Angst, Civil War II (Marvel), Fix-It, Hopeful Ending, Hydra Cap, Hydra Steve Rogers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-05 01:28:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10294295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laireshi/pseuds/laireshi
Summary: Steve needs to shatter Tony in order to make himhis. But Tony will always rebuild, and he'll always save Steve, too.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for beta to [runningondreams](http://archiveofourown.org/users/runningondreams)!
> 
> My fill for the 2017 era of 616 canon for 10 Years of Steve/Tony on cap-ironman. I think this is actually a happy ending.

_He_ loved Tony.

That’s why Steve thinks it almost hurts now to ask, “When was your last drink?” when he knows the answer perfectly well: years ago, under the Serpent’s influence. Tony’s too strong to go back to it. Too strong and too smart. 

Tony’s eyes are wide, like he can’t believe what Steve just said. Good, Steve thinks; keep him on edge, don’t let him relax . . . Bad, Steve thinks; comfort him, help him, save him—

All for the good of Hydra, Steve tells himself. But Tony . . . He could help the goal. Steve _could_ defeat Tony. That’s not a question. But having Tony Stark working with him . . . The world would be theirs in an hour. 

Tony turns away.

Steve’s not thinking: he catches Tony by his wrist on instinct, holds him in place.

“I know you’re sober,” he says. He’s not sure why. This is not what he should be doing. He needs to shatter Tony in order to make him _his_. 

(He can’t do that. He has to; all for the good of Hydra.)

“So mercurial all of a sudden,” Tony snarls.

Steve just looks at him, waits. Tony’s always best at talking with himself.

Finally, Tony deflates. “I’m on edge,” he says. Steve doesn’t smile, but it’s a close thing. “I’m—I’m sorry. With Rhodey, and Bruce . . .” He still can’t say Rhodes’ name in a steady voice, Steve notices. “And—Steve, I am so worried you’ll be next.”

“I’ll be fine, Tony.” Steve looks at him. “The one I’m worried about is you.”

Tony looks down. Even now he seems defeated, and they’re not done yet. Not by a long shot. He looks so beautiful, shattering into pieces; Steve thinks that after the war, he’ll be nothing if not exquisite. 

“I’m here,” Steve says. “And I’ll always be here for you.”

Tony shakes his head mutely, but there are tears in his eyes. _Good_ , Steve thinks. _Good_. 

He steps closer, and wraps Tony in a hug, and Tony melts against him. 

_Lose this war,_ Steve thinks _, and you’ll be mine forever_. 

***

Steve might’ve made a mistake.

He’s turning around, watching the exhibition of Iron Man armours in Tony’s lab. They’re all active now. One order away from attacking him.

Tony’s body is in the helicarrier, though. Steve had seen it in the morning. So who . . . Carol told him to come here; can it be her? Has she seen through him?

And then an incredibly familiar voice says, “You used me.”

Steve spins around. One armour is stepping forward, but it’s not right; the voice sounded like Tony’s, not like Iron Man’s. 

“You’re not him,” Steve says.

The armour shrugs. It disassembles, smoothly, red and gold pieces falling away. There’s no one inside. “Close enough.” Tony’s voice, again.

Steve reaches for his shield. 

“You used me,” the voice repeats, “and I can only be mad at myself here, right? _You_ are not Steve.”

“ _He_ wasn’t me,” Steve snaps, _he was weak and pathetic and Steve wasn’t, Steve was better, Steve destroyed Tony—_

And he keeps begging him to wake up, still. 

“Steve would’ve known,” Tony’s voice says again. “I’ll do anything to help him.”

Steve turns around again. There, between the Extremis armour and the first one that Steve had met years ago, when he woke up from the ice, is a holographic figure.

“Is that it?” he asks. “A programmed AI? You can’t stop me.”

“I’m a bit more than that,” the figure says.

Steve’s always been pulling his punches, when fighting Tony before. But there was a real man controlling the armour, and it was easy to hurt him. Now . . . 

“The Avengers are coming,” the not-Tony says. “I just wanted to—see you first, I guess.”

“The Avengers are gone,” Steve snarls. He made sure of it. The new teams are powerless copies. Nothing to worry about.

“The Avengers will always assemble, if a need arises,” the AI corrects him. “And _we need to help Steve_ is a better call than _assemble_ , here.”

Steve throws the shield. Tony’s holographic body disappears before it hits it. 

Steve runs to the right, to catch his shield back, when something hits him, first in the arm, then legs, and then he realises it’s one of Tony’s armours assembling around him. 

“Steve Rogers,” he tries, “Dis—”

The helmet snaps in place around his head, and then there’s a small prick at the back of his neck.

Nothing.

***

“You saved me,” Steve says, and more than anything, he wishes he could just hold Tony’s hand, “but I can’t save you.”

Tony’s eyes are bright blue. His _whole body_ is blue. Translucent. Like a ghost. “I don’t need saving,” he says. It’s exactly what Tony Stark would say. It’s the truth. It’s also a lie. 

It is Tony, and Steve wants to touch him. It’s not Tony; Tony’s comatose and Steve put him there. 

“I’m sorry,” Steve says. 

“Nope,” Tony says. “Rule one of being Avenger: no apologising for being mind-controlled.”

“That’s not a rule,” Steve says, stubbornly stares into Tony’s eyes and tries to ignore that he can see the wall behind him. “And it wasn’t exactly mind-control.”

Tony raises an eyebrow. “Do you want to bring Hydra to the rule of Earth? I might call Stephen to check you up again—”

“No!” Steve snaps. “You know what I mean.”

“You’re blaming yourself for something that’s not your fault,” Tony says. “Trust me. I have personal experience.”

“I did—”

“You didn’t do anything,” Tony interrupts, softly this time, the digital lines of his face conveying nothing but worry.

“Fine,” Steve says. “Not-me. He wanted—he used you, he planned—”

“And I’m grateful for it,” Tony says. At Steve’s shocked expression, he continues, “He was awfully chatty around my comatose body. That’s how I learnt about—about Hydra.” He looks up then, fixing his gaze somewhere over Steve. “And _this_ is my fault, Steve. I should’ve noticed earlier. I didn’t. I’m sorry.”

Steve covers his face with a hand. “Is that what we’re going to be doing now?” he asks, tired. “Exchanging apologies?”

Tony shrugs. “I’m an artificial intelligence program, basically.” He winces. “Well. Not exactly. You don’t want to get into technicalities.”

That’s true, but Steve wants to grin anyway: Tony can’t just let any tech inaccuracy go.

“My point is,” Tony says, “I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me. My body is another thing, and one we won’t discuss now.”

In Steve’s opinion, that’s a very important thing, but he nods. Everything’s too fresh, the memories of months of working for Hydra crawling under his skin. He doesn’t want to get right into another argument with Tony, even about Tony’s own well-being. 

There’s just one more thing he has to say. “When you say you heard what I—what _he_ said . . .”

Tony winces. He clearly understands what Steve’s asking about. “I did,” he confirms.

Steve stares at his own feet, awkward. “That part was true,” he mutters. 

“Aaand I’m calling Strange,” Tony says.

“ _Tony_.” Steve’s voice is sharp. “After everything—you deserve the truth. I’m not asking you for anything. Just listen me out. I love you. I’m sorry—I’m sorry everything ended like this.” 

Before they even had a chance to have something.

Tony’s form disappears. Before Steve can freak out, he reappears right next to him. Steve can’t feel his touch on his cheek, just see the low glow of the hologram. He tilts his head slightly into Tony’s hand anyway, imagines there’s _something_. 

Tony’s voice is quiet. “I can’t really touch you,” he whispers. “But maybe it’s not an ending, Steve.”

Steve swallows. He reaches out with his hand, mirrors Tony’s position, puts his palm to Tony’s cheek. If he closed his eyes, it’d be like nothing’s happening.

Steve keeps his eyes wide open. It’s _everything_.


End file.
